Ricki Herbert Football Academy Talent Centre announced at ACG Tauranga

Our school will become home to the country’s newest Ricki Herbert Football Academy (RHFA) Talent Centre.

Former New Zealand international and professional footballer and coach Ricki Herbert said our purpose-built school on 14ha in Pyes Pa will make a strong partner. “Having already established a relationship with ACG through our talent centre at ACG Strathallan in Auckland, we knew the school was a good fit for the Bay of Plenty.”

Our Principal Shawn Hutchinson said the partnership between ACG Tauranga and the Ricki Herbert Football Academy aligns well with our school’s values. “As a new school, we want to build positive and sustainable relationships with the community. We believe making our world-class facilities available to community groups will lead to more opportunities for young people to participate in regular, high-quality sporting programmes.”

The new partnership will provide two coaching sessions a week with a professional coach from the Ricki Herbert Football Academy from Term 2. The curriculum, which covers all age groups from five to 18, has been developed by Mr Herbert. Sessions will take place at ACG Tauranga. Schools, clubs and families around the area are invited to be involved.

Shaun O’Brien, RHFA Head Coach for Tauranga said he was looking forward to kick-starting the new academy.

“Tauranga has experienced massive growth, so there was a need to open a second Talent Centre here to cater for busy families keen to get involved in football. ACG Tauranga has a real desire to move forward on the sports front, and we’re looking forward to helping with that.”

Ricki Herbert is a former New Zealand international and professional footballer who has represented New Zealand at FIFA World Cup Finals both as a player and as a coach. His academies offer coaching, inter-centre competitions, holiday programmes and national camps. They have partnerships with top English club Fulham and football clubs in South America.

Today our preschool celebrates its very first birthday! The biggest highlight for us has been creating relationships with all of our foundation children and their families. It has been a year of successes.